7/40 Billy Summers by Stephen King. King has not lost one bit of his ability to tell an interesting character driven story. This one doesn't disappoint. Aside from brief references to the Overlook Hotel, this contains no supernatural aspects. It's actually pretty similar to the first two in the Mr. Mercedes series in that respect. An Iraq war veteran sniper returns home and finds himself using his skills for profit with one condition, the target must be a "bad person." I know, it's kind of Dexter-ish, but King makes it work. Billy is hired to do "one last job" and King knows this is a hackneyed trope, comments on that fact, and then uses it to his advantage. There is one disturbing scene where Billy exacts some revenge that I could have done without. It definitely made his character less likable but, then again, he is a killer for hire...
I'm struggling through "Our Country Friends" by Gary Shteyngart right now because my hold on it came up, but I'm not really enjoying it. I'll post the review when I'm done, hopefully the author can bring it home. He's packed it with really, really unlikable characters. I always like to connect with characters in a novel and these ones are repulsive. Same reason I didn't like Nine Perfect Strangers by Moriarty. Maybe the end will bring some redemption?
